Following a month-long jury trial in state court in Houston, Kelley Drye negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of JPMorgan Chase (“JPMC”) in a case where the bank was accused of breaching its duties as indenture trustee on notes issued by a subsidiary of bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing. The plaintiff-noteholders were suing JPMC for more than $200 million plus punitive damages of four times that amount. This was the third and final settlement of noteholder claims against the bank arising out of the Global Crossing bankruptcy.

Kelley Drye, on behalf of JPMC, vigorously defended the case, arguing that it had complied with all of its duties and that any alleged injuries suffered by the plaintiffs were caused by Global Crossing’s conduct. The settlement negotiations came to a turning point when JPMC successfully convinced the trial court to exclude plaintiffs’ testimony and proposed jury charge concerning their theory of recovery. The Kelley Drye trial team worked with co-counsel Locke Liddell & Sapp and in-house counsel to try the case.